Report: US New-Diesel Registrations On The Rise
Diesel hasn’t had the best reputation in the United States since the early 1980s. A new report says this attitude has changed as of late.
According to Edmunds, IHS Automotive found in its report for the Diesel Technology Forum a double-digit increase in U.S. new-diesel registrations, jumping 13.5 percent between 2013 and 2014. Total diesel registrations in 2014 came to 7.4 million vehicles. California, Massachusetts and Nevada lead the rest of the country in those registrations.
Greater fuel economy, cleaner diesel technology, and more vehicles with diesels — like the BMW X5, Volkswagen Jetta and Chevrolet Cruze — are helping to fuel the spike in registrations, despite diesel still being more expensive at the pump per gallon than regular gasoline.
Seattle-based writer, blogger, and photographer for many a publication. Born in Louisville. Raised in Kansas. Where I lay my head is home.
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My dad replaced his 2010 Yukon Denali with a '14 Grand Cherokee EcoDiesel and loves it, getting 24 mpg in town and around 30 on trips to LA. He would have bought another Yukon Denali, but GM doesn't offer a 1/2 ton diesel (stupid). My business just purchased a 2015 Dodge RAM 1500 (I refuse to say RAM only) EcoDiesel and it is getting 21 mpg in city driving and about 26 on the highway. The EcoDiesel has a bit of diesel clatter at idle, but is relatively quiet. Most people can't even tell a diesel engine is in either vehicle. And yes, I live in the Sierra Nevada foothills of California - gas has just dropped from 3.15 to 2.93 in my town and diesel is once again just slightly higher than gas (3.07).
My girl had an '09 Jetta TDI, DSG tranny, for 85k miles, and it was quite reliable, other than a very early turbo replacement (~10k). The only other things that were troublesome were batteries (hey, it's Arizona) and light bulbs. She traded it in late last year on a '15 Golf TDI, and went manual this time, first manual she's owned. VW kindly offers the xenon lighting package as a standalone option, and I convinced her it was a must-have. All in all a REALLY nice car for just over $27k list, mid trim level (SE). BTW, for any of you thinking about buying a VW (any VW except the Golf R currently qualifies), check to see if your employer is a member of their partner program. If so, you get pricing at $500 BELOW INVOICE price. It's quite a long list, including a bunch of banks, OEM suppliers, Lexmark, Motorola, etc etc. It's a smokin' deal if you qualify. List of partners here: http://vwpartnerprogram.com/vw/partner/program/supplierslist
I have a 2012 Jetta wagon tdi and a BMW 335d. They are both great cars. On a recent road trip we were on the mostly abandoned US95 traveling from Boise to Carson City. I set the cruise at 100 mph for hours. Still got 30 mpg
Diesel is a horrible idea, it forms far more smog than gasoline despite creating less CO2, but moreover the particular matter it spews out is way, way, worse for human health. If we actually adopted lots of diesel cars we'd end up having to ban cars like Paris is now doing. Please see: http://www.nature.com/news/2004/040202/full/news040202-13.html http://www.nypirg.org/enviro/air/diesel/ http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-edinburgh-east-fife-14152045 http://www.latimes.com/world/europe/la-fg-france-paris-smog-20150323-story.html#page=1 If you want the US to end up a crappy smogged up hellhole where people have more heart attacks, strokes, and asthma attacks then diesel is a great idea. For people who don't want to live in an unhealthy smogged up craphole, there's turbos and now electric motors to provide just as much low end torque as any diesel motor would, without destroying the air quality. This auto enthusiast obsession with diesel has to stop, it's idiotic, and extra idiotic in a country where diesel prices are higher than gasoline and the diesel vehicles cost thousands more than gasoline counterparts that are often faster.